How hard is rach. Moment musicaux no.4

[the green piano man]

I want to learn this piece but im not sure I could. Right now I practice Liszt 12.rhapsody(henle 9) Bach d minor BWW 1052 piano concerto(henle 7), schubert a flat major impromptu  from op.90(maybe henle 7), and some scarlatti sonatas. I learned the g minor rach prelude and the moments musicaux 3 a half year ago.
I really love Rachmaninoff and this piece is one of the best in my opinion, but can somebody tell me how hard it is, or with this knowledge about me would you recommend this piece? Thank you, Zoard

[franks66]

Hi. I was thinking about learning this too. But the endurance required for the left hand scares me. I think you should be able to go through Chopin 10,12 with ease at high tempo, before you try the Rachmaninov.

Look at his face at the end. Hilarious...

[the green piano man]

Hi, which op.? I think you thought about the revolutionary etud and I think I will learn that piece before this, thanks. Yes I watched this interpretation I laughed when I saw his face at the end. I can relate to that face

[franks66]

Sure, Revolutionary Etude.
I wrote Chopin 10,12. Just forgot the "op".

Of course you can go straight to the Rachmaninov is you do it carefully and give it time to grow.
But i think you will get a better experience if you improve your left hand with the Chopin Etude first.
It's not that hard to learn. Btw ignore Chopins Metronome (76 half ~ 152 quarter).
Kissin (who is usually fastest) is at 138. Lisitsa (who is also rather fast usually) is at 132.

[the green piano man]

Ohh alright. Yes I saw that tempo it was hella fast in my opinion. I think i'll start both but more work into the chopin. Have you started yet?

[franks66]

The Chopin op 10,12 is permanently in my practise routine as a left hand workout.
I didn't dare to start the Rachmaninov MM No 4 yet.
Good luck if you do.

[anacrusis]

It requires an efficient technique so that you can play fast notes effortlessly. If you can do that it's not super hard. Do you feel you have good fundamentals, good command over playing quick passagework?

[the green piano man]

I will start it 2 weeks later, I'll have the bach concert performance with orchestra at friday after that.
Answered to that question, im not sure, I can play very fast and accurate with right hand, and rn I started the chopin etude and it feels not that much hard for my left hand. But how can I check if my left hand is good enough?

[franks66]

I will start it 2 weeks later, I'll have the bach concert performance with orchestra at friday after that.
Answered to that question, im not sure, I can play very fast and accurate with right hand, and rn I started the chopin etude and it feels not that much hard for my left hand. But how can I check if my left hand is good enough?

If i can go through Chopins op 10,12 at 126 (quarters) 2 times in a row without being exhausted, i would consider my left hand ready to attempt the Rachm. MM4.

Of course you can already start learning at slower tempo, even if the left hands endurance is not enough developed yet. If you really love the piece just give it a go.

[the green piano man]

Alright, thanks for the tip!

[bwl_13]

I just played this in my first year undergrad jury with few problems. Oddly enough, I found the third movement of Ravel's Sonatine to be trickier than this. I think this piece sounds harder than it is.

The biggest challenge is holding everything together and getting the bass to growl. The passagework itself is very forgiving, since it's a very chromatic blur. Playing it at the marked 104 bpm is insane though, and I don't even think it sounds great at that tempo anyway. I played it around 96, pushing the tempo in places it's really needed.

It's also extremely repetitive with regards to the technique required. Sure, the passagework changes a lot, but once you get the tangled figuration figured out it's really not THAT bad. The Liszt you're playing seems more difficult.

Regardless, this really is a matter of what your technique favours. I can play quick passagework with few problems, but very jumpy chordal stuff is quite killer. You should be able to judge its difficulty messing around with it for a few days. Even if it might be too hard for the moment, you're likely not far off from being able to handle it.